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leahegood's review
4.0
Last week I went to Barnes and Nobles armed with a gift card. There's so much freedom that goes attached to entering a bookstore with a gift card. :) I was planning on buying [b:The Emotion Thesaurus|13554235|The Emotion Thesaurus A Writer's Guide to Character Expression|Angela Ackerman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332267445s/13554235.jpg|19123949], but they didn't have it. So I got this book instead.
It was a good, easy read. And helpful too. I was a little surprised that the author spent a good chunk of the book talking about setting. (That doesn't fit Emotion, Tension, and Conflict in my mind, but it did in the mind of Cheryl St. John apparently.) I'd definitely recommend this book to fellow writers looking to punch up the *feeling* in their stories.
It was a good, easy read. And helpful too. I was a little surprised that the author spent a good chunk of the book talking about setting. (That doesn't fit Emotion, Tension, and Conflict in my mind, but it did in the mind of Cheryl St. John apparently.) I'd definitely recommend this book to fellow writers looking to punch up the *feeling* in their stories.
caroleen's review
5.0
This book is a keeper. (I.E. I can't lend it to friends because I use it so often.)
St. John's writing style makes this book fascinating and easy to understand, no matter how complex the idea. It felt like a (long) conversation with the warmest, most direct critique partner ever to hold a red pen.
I'm using my copy to make writing worksheets and checklists from. (There will be many.)
What is really helpful about this book is that it has:
Suggested movies to watch, with explanations of what to look for and how to learn from them
Suggested books to read (ditto above)
Exercises
References to and suggestions for other writing books (one gem I hadn't heard of before: The Describer's Dictionary by Grambs)
*Movies to watch! Best homework ever.*
This book is well worth its price. It's an excellent reference and covers emotion, tension, and conflict from the ground up. Even more than characters' traits and important plot components, she talks about things like settings and characters' names.
I highly, highly recommend this book for writers at all stages. I'm confident everyone will learn from this excellent manual.
St. John's writing style makes this book fascinating and easy to understand, no matter how complex the idea. It felt like a (long) conversation with the warmest, most direct critique partner ever to hold a red pen.
I'm using my copy to make writing worksheets and checklists from. (There will be many.)
What is really helpful about this book is that it has:
Suggested movies to watch, with explanations of what to look for and how to learn from them
Suggested books to read (ditto above)
Exercises
References to and suggestions for other writing books (one gem I hadn't heard of before: The Describer's Dictionary by Grambs)
*Movies to watch! Best homework ever.*
This book is well worth its price. It's an excellent reference and covers emotion, tension, and conflict from the ground up. Even more than characters' traits and important plot components, she talks about things like settings and characters' names.
I highly, highly recommend this book for writers at all stages. I'm confident everyone will learn from this excellent manual.
tenoko1's review
1.0
This book was little more than a useless, unorganized waste of time. Her advice is basically to get you a bunch of movies to watch and to tell you to take notes on the plot and how it was done, or hey, here's an excerpt from one of my books? See? I did what I'm talking vaguely about! But she never actually gives you any solid advice, tips, or techniques. Would not recommend.
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